MARGAO
Asserting that land admeasuring around 99,000 square metres of Communidade land was proposed to be acquired and used for burial grounds for all the three communities as per a Goa Legislative Assembly resolution in 1999, the Shadow Council of Margao has charged that the land was dropped after realization dawned that a huge chunk of the land was allegedly encroached upon by an influential person.SCM Convenor Savio Coutinho further said the Goa Assembly Resolution was then confined to the files, instead of clearing the encroachment, which would have resolved the burning issue of burial grounds of the three religious communities.
“It is indeed very sad to notice how the Kabarastan issue gets shunted from one location to another. And all this shunting commenced with the successful attempts of those in power, who shelved the proposal for a Kabarastan at atop hill in Aquem", Coutinho asserted.
He added: “Later In 2009, the Sonsodo land was identified, but even after 10 year's has passed nothing happened there, but instead another land at Khareband came in the picture in 2019. The facts behind the Khareband land is that this was a low lying communidade field, part within Margao jurisdiction and part in Navelim village Panchayat jurisdiction”.
He alleged that in 2016-17 some Margao Municipal Cuncillors took possession of that land from the tenants for peanuts and went around trying to develop the same into 100 sqmts plots to be sold to migrants.
“The Shadow Council for Margao had filed complaints against this illegal development and stopped the same. In indeed a very brilliant move, these Councillors and some other partners prevailed upon the powers that be, to acquire this land for the Kabarastan, and having full knowledge of the new laws of fair compensation, thought of hitting a jackpot," Coutinho stated.
He said in their tearing hurry, the partners to this scam, the Margao Municipal Council, ignored the fact that they did not have power to cross the city boundary.
“The sad and primary reason why this issue is not getting resolved is because the Muslim community has always remained a divided lot, with small leaders within the community pitched against each other by politicians”, he added.
